Part Deux of this incredible gathering of Japanese toy obsessed artists is a just a mere 2 weeks away! Don’t miss it!..

WHAT: A massive show featuring some of the most talented airbrushers and painters of Japanese vinyl from all over the U.S.! … last year’s ICFSB show had plenty of other surprises too…and prizes!

A preview of my submission:

Last year I had things that smoked and made irritating noises…but I just didn’t have the time this year to make such annoying Objects de‘Art…BUT, I have something too HOT to touch!!!…(well not really…you can touch it all you want)…

I really like how this guy turned out…lots of glitter that you can’t make out in the picture and also his pupil is a tiny flame. I’ll get more pics up on flickr as the show grows nearer but I think it would be much better to come see it in person… 😉

Max Toy’s Mark Nagata was kind enough to invite a throng of Japanese toy collectors into to his family’s new home in SF for the ‘Kaiju Invade SF‘ welcome dinner…and also a chance to see his amazing collection in it’s new location!

[This post is really pic heavy so sorry if it loads a bit slow…click any image to enlarge]

Mark Nagata…

The dinner at Mark’s was held to welcome Japanese toy makers Yajima-san of Dream Rocket and Ichimiya-san of Sunguts on their first visit to the U.S…and also Matt Walker aka Dead Presidents in from Massachusetts. All gearing up for their upcoming show with Max Toy!…

Dead President’s also impressed everyone with his pinstriping skill and put on some last minute touches for the following day’s show…

I have a feeling that Matt enjoys what he does!…

All together I probably spent over an hour & half down in the ‘Museum‘ trying to take in all of Mark’s amazing collection…and it is in no way dedicated to just Ultraman…there are vinyls and other rarities from many of the other old Japanese TV shows/movies as well as a world-class collection of rayguns and robots!…

One of the first things I had to seek out was the uber-rare 1966 Bullmark ‘Girls Version’ Red Ultraman…only 4 exist in collector’s hands!!!

An Ultra Ride!…

Props too!…

Some new toys mixed in as well such as Neo-Eyezon!…

Vintage Robots and Trikes!…

Amazing vintage Kikaider collection!…

Protoypes…how awesome is that!…

Wouldn’t be an Ultraman collection without some Beta Capsules…

Some toys I had never seen like the Hyata below…

Ha! Ragon above has the same expression I had the whole time I was looking at this stuff…

More rareness…

Ultramen galore…

An Ultra Door!…

Giant Robos…

…and of course Ultra Bowling…

Lots of Ultra art was spread about the room…

An awesome Herculoids sketch…

Check out this giant Harryhausen Cylops guarding the room…

A dissected Eyezon…

…and Eyezon’s to paint…

Everywhere you look there was more incredible toys to behold…it really felt like being down in some super secret Tokyo toy shop that had all the rarest toys…

Toys in unexpected places…

You could tell that there was actually much more still in boxes…I would love to see what treasures these held too…

Mark asked some of us to sign his famous Mirrorman Statue but I realized I forgot to after I got home…oops 😦 …hopefully I’ll get to visit again someday soon!

Mark watching DP pinstriping…

Matt tries to make a Lion Maru face…and nails it…

Ultraman tells Toybot Studio’s Kirkland that Mark’s collection is even bigger than his…

Mark’s awesome son Max also helped keep everyone entertained by showing us his own cool toy collection…and his great skill playing Mario…

A good time was definitely had by all! Finally getting to see Mark’s collection in person and having the chance to meet many in the Japanese toy and collecting world as well as other artists and cool creative people…not to mention Mark’s very talented guests of honor made for a night I won’t soon forget!

A huge thanks to Mark Nagata and his wonderful family for the invite and being such gracious hosts!

Don’t forget to see this amazing show at Double Punch in North Beach SF…ends December 30th!

Plus…

On their first visit to the U.S….

I know Mark & Matt will bring some serious heat to this show…Matt has already let me know that there will be at least one show exclusive as well as some rare one-off customs…DP customs from: Max Toy, Onell Design, and RxH …plus a few more surprises!

Mark’s still very busy working on toys for the show as this post goes out…so we’ll be hearing more on what to expect from Max Toy soon…

Just to give you a little taste of the talent…I snagged one of DP’s INCREDIBLE exclusives just a couple of days ago:

It’s difficult to capture all of the subtle nuances of Matt’s paint work on this figure! DP uses his own formula of paints and top coats that are extremely vibrant and durable. For this custom, Matt also added a ton of diamond ice pearl flakes to the paint to give it an incredible sparkle in person. MSM Cranberry Land was limited to just 10 pieces and I feel pretty lucky to have one in my collection!

I want some more!

Hope to see you at the show and I’ll update when I get more info on what’s going to be available!

I plan on getting back to regular posts and have 4 other customs in various stages of completion.

In case anyone’s been wondering… I’ve just been focusing on some other things lately and also have a two week vacation starting Oct. 5th…but the plan is to get back my focus on various kaiju art and customizing when I return…really!

For now though…here are a couple I finished up for the Halloween show atMonstock!

Martian Invader Borugogon…

Loosely inspired by the ‘Mars Attacks ‘ Martians…Painted on clear vinyl, I gave this guy some shiny electronics in the chest plate, silver tinsel inside, crystal green eyes that really catch the light and shine, and to top it off…a brain that is visible through the clear head piece!

The brain actually can be removed…it’s one of those wind-up novelty ones that pulsates!

Another clear Borugogon was used for my Halloween colorway…

Tried to get some shots with the light behind it as it’s really bright. Actually had a hard time shooting this one as my camera doesn’t seem to like Orange too much…all my shots just looked like a blob of orange 😦

Red ruby eyes added to give it a more demonic look and also filled with this great pink-orange tinsel inside that gives him a kind of burning effect!

Now off to Japan they go! 😦 😦

This was the first time I actually held a Borugogon and now I am determined to get one for myself…they are AWESOME!!!

Borugogons…

…are designed by Japanese artist ‘Nezrange’ (sorry I don’t have a link) and only available thru the Monstock store & Gallery.

Available in full size (shown above) and minis. Both come in various colorways, glows, and clears. The name Borugogon roughly translates to something like flower-rock monster.

A very cool toy and crazy fun to customize!

Oh, before I forget…BIG thanks to Ricky (VELOCITRON) for the hook-up!!!

Mark Nagata’s Toy Karma 2 show tears into Chicago’s Rotofugi Gallery & Store September 5th -20th 2009. Mark has rounded up an unprecedented 70+ talented artists for a Japanese toy & art show like no other!!!

I was working on a special 19″ Ultraman for this show (in honor of Mark…who if you didn’t know has the largest Ultraman collection outside of Japan!), but due to some technical difficulties and time…that’s just going to have to wait til a bit later 😦

So...I decided to create one special piece and release my ‘Sanda vs Gaira‘ set for TK2.

Out of all of the customs I’ve created…these Gargantuas have had more purchase requests than anything else I have done! I actually rarely sell my customs and mainly just paint for my own collection…but now’s your chance to grab ’em!

Up next is a custom Gezora set that recreates a scene from the 1970 TOHO film ‘Space Amoeba‘!

Emerald Sea Gezora and custom mini Ganime…

Ganime attacks…SNIP!

MAGNETS?

Some great vintage kaiju toys employed magnets set into the vinyl to allow for interchangeable heads or hold another toy. I thought it would be fun to add magnets in this way to create a scene from the film… where Gezora gets his tentacle snipped by Ganime!

A special header for the set depicts the scene…

Space Amoeba trailer…

I can’t believe the talented company I’m in for this show!!! HUGE thanks to Mark Nagata for the invite!

Also a big thanks to the sponsors and Kirby & Whitney Kerr at Rotofugi for hosting and taking care of and organizing all of this art…indeed no small task!

I’m really psyched to be part of VELOCITRON’s show at the Monstock Store & Gallery in Tokyo! I’m a huge fan of Ricky’s insane Larvagon & Bechigon toys and was more than happy to paint some up for his ‘Massing of Grim Reapers‘ themed show!

The REAPIGON…(that’s what I’m callin’ them)…first up is REAPIGON: EGG of NECROSIS…

The EGG of NECROSIS is painted in Orange/Red/Gold/Smoke/Green and features a Reaper skull with tinsel inside. Custom Reaper header included!

REAPIGON: REAPIGON MORTUOUS

I wanted to do something a little unexpected with the Grim Reaper theme with this guy.

In the night REAPIGON shows his evil demon face!

An inverted cross was burned into it’s grotesque skull…

If caught in the daylight you will behold a figure wearing the robe of the Grim Reaper…

After Reapigon MORTUOUS removes it’s robe you’ll discover that this soul stealer is not the black skeleton looking creature you were expecting at all!

In fact he is all bright metallic colors with an emerald eye…and of course a color coordinated Scythe…

So there you have it…a slightly different take on the Grim Reaper. I wanted to have a few different display options available too. Hope you like it as I really had a lot of fun painting these great VELOCITRON sculpts!

Emerald crystal eye in Reapigon’s removable head and innards…

Unfortunately I didn’t have the time I needed to make the header I really wanted (plus get VELOCITRON’s proper logo) but I got this one together fast for the show. I used a pic from the band Grim Reaper’s 1987 album cover ‘RockYou to Hell’ which I actually remember listening to. NxWxOxBxHxM x NxWxOxJxSxV Hell yeah!

The new show by DrilOne opened last night 6/5 ( runs thru 7/3/09) in San Francisco. Some really great work to be seen…Don’t Miss It!

This is the first show of this type that I had taken part in. Lots of Western vinyl and mixed media pieces and I was really impressed by the talent exhibited! Besides a cool Mecha Hedorah by Todd Robertson, I believe I had the only Eastern vinyl ‘Kaiju’ there…represent!

KAIJU COLORING BOOK!

About me…

For years I have been an enthusiastic devotee of Tokusatsu series & Kaiju Eiga (Japanese SFX, live action, & monster movies).
I'm also an ardent collector of the Japanese vintage & modern vinyl figures which you'll see here on the site. I have always been drawn to the vibrant colors, shapes, & creativity exhibited in Japanese toys and television characters. These obsessions invariably come together and influence my various artwork, photography, & custom vinyl creations.

Art & Photography:

I practice the use of HDR (High Dynamic Range) in my Kaiju Art Photography. I utilize various photo manipulation techniques to modify the color palette & lighting of the subject matter. My goal is to render a distinct personality and a certain pop art sensibility to the finished image.
My other Kaiju art projects and customs will eventually make their way to this site...so please check back if your curious!